Crossroads Weekly Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Serving Alcorn County • www.crossroadsweekly.com
Qualifying ends Friday The clock is ticking on those considering running in Corinth’s municipal elections. Potential candidates have until 5 p.m. this Friday, July 18, to file their paperwork with the city clerk. The election includes races for all they city’s elected positions including police chief, mayor and alderman. The field remains unusually small and has shrunk by one in the past week as Ward 4 alderman candidate Dewayne Porter withdrew his candidacy. Currently only police chief, ward 4 alderman and alderman-at-large have contested races. The current lineup of candidates includes: • Mayor: Tommy Irwin (R)
Potential candidates have until 5 p.m. this Friday, July 18, to file their paperwork with the city clerk. (inc.) • Police chief: Ralph Dance (D), Ben Gann (D), Fred Gooch (R) • Ward 1: Andrew “Bubba” Labas (R)(inc.) • Ward 2: Ben Albarracin (R) (inc.) • Ward 3: A.L. “Chip” Wood III (R)(inc.) • Ward 4: J.C. “Honeyboy”
Hill (D)(inc.), Steve D. Hill (D) • Ward 5: Michael McFall (R)(inc.) • Alderman at large: Mike Hopkins (D)(inc.) Jennifer S. McCoy (D), John Orman (R) Those who wish to run as partisan candidates on the Democratic or Republican tickets must file a statement of intent and a $10 fee which goes to the respective party. To run as an independent candidate, a citizen must file a statement of intent along with a petition containing the signatures of 50 qualified electors. The primary election for party candidates is set for Sept. 16 with runoffs to follow Sept. 30. The general election is set for Oct. 14, and the new term of office will begin Nov. 3.
Photo of the Week
FFREE
VOL. 1 • NO. 3
Person of the Week
Lee Hopson Music City Drum Corps Drum Major Lee Hopson of Kossuth is the Crossroads Weekly Person of the Week. Hopson, 19, was recently selected to lead the elite performing group as one of their 2014 drum majors. The Nashvillebased group will conduct their tour practices at Tishomingo High School this year between tours across the country showcasing their high-caliber performances. Hopson served as drum major at Kossuth High School his junior and senior years, bringing home a slew of honors, including All Superior ratings at each contest entered and the top overall drum major award at the state preliminaries. He also brought home the title of overall drum major in Class 3A his senior year as well as the overall drum major title of all classes at each competition he’s in. The tuba player and drum
major will also take on the leadership of the Showband from Tigerland as drum major at Northeast Mississippi Community College this fall. Hopson is excited about what this summer’s tour with Music City has to offer. “I joined MCDC in 2013 to fill a euphonium spot. I was expecting only to improve my musical abilities, but I gained so much more from the experience,” said Hopson. “I made friendships that will last long after the tour ends. As a drum major now, I’ve never been more proud to call these people my friends and family.” Hopson is the son of Sandy Childs of Corinth and Max Hopson of Savannah, Tenn. (For a schedule of cities and dates of Music City’s performances or for more information, go to Music City Drum & Bugle Corps on Facebook or to info@MusicCityDrumCorps. org.)
Who shot Cleo?
Brandy Shelton of Rienzi captured this image of a storm system moving through the area on the afternoon of June 8 in the parking lot of Lowe’s in Corinth. Send us your Photo of the Week and related information for Alcorn County’s Crossroads Weekly to editor@dailycorinthian.com. Anything will be considered — vacation shots, local landscape moments, family reunions, kids and grandkids, family at play and church or community actitivies.
PASS — right folks get the right jobs Job PASS is helping put the right people in the right jobs. The testing program offered through the Northeast Mississippi Community College Division of Workforce Training and Economic Development has quickly become a key tool to help employers determine how a potential employees’ capabilities match up with the requirements for the position they’re seeking to fill. Greg James with the division explained the goal of the program is to give the employer objective data they can use to get a clear view of an applicant’s strengths and weaknesses and determine if they’re a good fit for the available job. Often employers use the program as an initial screening tool given to applicants early in the hiring process to filter for applicants who have the ability and aptitude for the job. Each segment of Job PASS (Physical Assessment Skills
Simulation) focuses on a particular area of capabilities and skills including color discrimination, short-term memory, language, hand-eye coordination, dexterity, speed, accuracy, ability to follow directions, strength, endurance and more. Each segment can be adjusted to match the particular needs of the employer. James noted the program was piloted in the state by NEMCC and others in the Mississippi Corridor Consortium, made up of the college along with East Mississippi Community College, Northwest Mississippi Community College Itawamba Community College and Coahoma Community College. He said the consortium has created opportunities for the college to help lead the state in workforce training and development and they continue to work to develop new and better tools to assist industries and residents in boosting economic development.
Each segment of Job PASS focuses on a particular area of capabilities and skills.
A reward continues to be offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the February murder of a longtime Corinth cab driver. Information helping bring the murderer of Cleo Henderson to justice could be worth up to $5,425. The 66-year-old cab driver was found shot to death outside of Liberty Cab Service in downtown Corinth around 2:39 a.m. on May 25. Investigators believe robbery was the motive for the murder
and they continue to aggressively pursue every available lead in the case. “We are still plugging away at it,” said Corinth Police Department Detective Capt. Ralph Dance. “Every bit of information we get, we follow up on … it has been a case of chasing down dead ends.” Anyone with information in the case is urged to call Crime Stoppers of Northeast Mississippi at 1-800-773-8477 or the Corinth Police Department at 662-287-3377.
Concerns continue over Forrest Memorial High grass has raised concerns over maintenance at Forrest Memorial Park, but strict laws on spending have tied the hands of the state agency tasked with overseeing the cemetery in the wake of the fraud conviction of its previous owner. The Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office has controlled the cemetery for two and half years since it was placed in receivership after an investigation uncovered a deficiency of more than $500,000 in pre-need trust accounts held at it and its sister cemetery, Oaklawn Memorial Gardens in Booneville. Recently citizens have questioned the lack of mowing and other maintenance at the cemetery on U.S. Highway 45. “We have not spent one dime of the tax payers money on the upkeep of the cemetery grass,” said Jeremy Martin, Secretary of State’s office North Mississippi representative. “The state has the money, but we are prohibited by law from being able to spend it on the property. We are allowed to make just a little extra money on burials to cover the cemetery being mowed.” Martin said the state clears approximately $300 per burial after paying for each grave to be dug and the funds are placed
Recently citizens have questioned the lack of mowing and other maintenance at the cemetery on U.S. Highway 45. in a maintenance fund to be used for upkeep. It’s extremely expensive to have the cemetery mowed and trimming done around the thousands of graves and markers. Martin said they have the site mowed each time the fund grows enough to pay for the work, but the grass often grows faster than they can afford to maintain it. The previous owner of the two cemeteries, Wayne Hight, pleaded guilty to four counts of misapplying or converting pre-need burial funds. He was sentenced to jail time and was ordered to pay restitution to the victims. Since that time the secretary of state’s office has combed through records, organized files and built a comprehensive
online database and inventory of the cemetery. “We probed the entire cemetery and found 76 bodies that had never been marked,” said Martin. “We have since marked those graves.” Martin said they retrieved and returned almost 200 bronze grave markers that were severely burned in a fire. They’ve also continued to work to get liens removed from the property so it can be sold. Two have been removed, but a third held by Southbank for over $600,000 remains unresolved. Former Alcorn County Supervisor Jeff Rencher submitted a bid for over $10,000 for the property, but the bid was rejected by Southbank. The bank has since foreclosed on the funeral home, road frontage and two undeveloped gardens on the property. Martin said since taking over the cemetery his office has worked closely with all those affected to resolve the situation and they will continue to work hard to take care of the cemetery and make sure everyone touched by the situation is taken care of. (For additional information, contact Martin at 662-8440194 or jeremy.martin@sos. ms.gov.)